Xander Repeated
by Skandranon
Summary: Xander is living the same day over and over, and everytime somebody dies. Warnings: Slash (Spike x Xander), language, sex scene, character death (but they don't die... well, you'll figure it out), AU (unintentional), killing of defenseless hardback book
1. Day 1

Title: Xander Repeated

Author: Skandranon

Email: daina_kelly@excite.com

Genre: Buffy tVS

Rating: PG

Ongoing WIP

Pairing: eventually Spike/Xander (give it time)

Warnings: Slash (man-on-man action), character death (mild), mild violence, a few swear words, lotsa Xander-abuse (in a non whips-n-chains way)

Author's Notes: I basically stole the plot from the movie Groundhog Day, since I thought it was something that might happen in the Buffyverse. Do you hate me? Also, this is very AU, since the Scoobies are still in High School, but Spike has a chip. I altered things to suit my own purposes. Hate me now? You should. Wait til you see how many times Xander gets called stupid.

**September 12, Wednesday**

The day started like any other day for Alexander Lavelle Harris. The night before he had set his alarm clock an hour earlier so that he could get up and have time to study for the big test today, but he had screwed up and set it for 6 instead of 4. This threw off his balance for the rest of the day, starting with when he woke up just in time to see the bus sail past his house. Muttering a few choice curses, he lurched to his feet and dragged himself over to his closet.

His father drove him to school, complaining the entire way about the economy, his job, the price of milk, and mostly about Xander's stupidity. Xander sat quietly in the passenger seat and took the abuse, knowing better than to talk back to his father about anything. They got to the school with time to spare, and Xander hurried out of the car and went in search of a certain redheaded best friend.

Second period went by slower than slowly, as Xander gnawed on his eraser in hopes that it might provide answers he didn't know for the test before him. He filled in some random bubbles, wrote down some vague sentences in the essay section, proudly signed his name and turned it in. By the end of the class they were graded, and he was consoling himself with the fact that 32 wasn't such a bad grade, considering he didn't study at all.

During lunch Xander munched on his stale and/or congealed food and providing the occasional goofy one-liner for Willow, who was bemoaning her pitiful A-.

"A minus! I mean, I almost never get a minus! Minus means inadequate. It means 'Oh, you only barely got an A, it almost isn't an A, so we'll put this little dash next to it to remind you that if you had gotten any lower, it would have been a B+.'"

Xander idly wondered if he should complain about his F--- to make her feel better, but luckily at that moment Cordelia wandered over to do it for him.

"Congratulations Xander. I saw your test score for English. Wow, 32, that's like a new school record. For worst grade, that is. How do you do it, Harris? A rigorous schedule of Non-studying?"

Xander replied with the first quip that came to him, which must have been pretty bad because Cordelia left laughing. Willow tried not to look guilty, which for her was an expression of uber-guilt. She attempted to make him feel better by offering to tutor him, but only succeeded in rubbing it in that he was an idiot.

She didn't mean to, not really. It's just that, her having an IQ of two people and his being the equivalent of a circus poodle, any word from her mouth only served to remind him of his faults.

Sighing inwardly, Xander got up to put his tray away, but a mountain came out of nowhere and bumped into him. A mountain by the name of Varsity Quarterback Pete Conners, who now had the remains of Xander's meal smeared all over his pants. And didn't look too pleased about it.

Xander began to ponder whether begging for forgiveness could be considered manly, but he never got the chance to find out. Before Mr. 7ft could even swing, there was a short little blond girl between them, gripping his arm in a vise of a hand.

"Why don't you stay away from my friend, huh Pete? I doubt you'd be able to play football with a broken leg."

Pete backed away from the annoyed Ms. Summers, muttering something about hiding behind girls as he stalked away. Watching him go, Xander wondered if there was a spell that could actually make the earth open up and swallow you when you wanted it to.

Having done her good deed for the day, Buffy decided that Xander needed further embarrassing and escorted him and Willow to the library, happily sipping on her soda as she went.

Giles was there to meet them when they arrived, an expression of "There's a demon running loose and we have to kill it" on his face. He immediately launched into his mandatory British-guy explanation.

"Oh good, you're all here. I need to talk to you about a new demon that's shown up in town. Apparently it's been eating the local wildlife, and a few people have caught sight of it. It appears to be a dark green in color, with its eyes on stalks protruding from its head."

Sip sip. "So basically it's a green bug-eyed monster?"

"Er, yes, I suppose you could describe it like that."

Xander took his natural position as seat-warmer and let the experts talk it out, sometimes noting important words like "weapons", "park", and "Xander, could you get me that book over there?"

He turned with a "Which book?", but apparently Buffy had set her drink down on the table, because now thanks to his elbow it was spilled all over a blue hardback. "Um, oops."

"Xander! Oh, I don't believe it. How could you be so clumsy?" Giles rushed to check the condition of his precious tree-sliver square, and wasn't very thrilled with what he found. "Xander, this was a first edition! Do you have any idea how much it cost? Oh, it's ruined, the script is running together."  
Xander had glanced in that book once or twice before. It was in a completely different alphabet, and his opinion was that it always had looked like the script was running together. He said as much.

"Don't be foolish. It's Gedroshan, a demonic language, and it's completely illegible now. Of course you wouldn't know that; the only language you read is English, and at times I'm doubtful about your skill in that."

Okay, that was nudging into the "mean" zone. He could understand, though. Giles was mad, he had just trashed something worth a lot of money, who wouldn't be screaming insults? He made an attempt to apologize.

"Oh, just, get out, before you ruin something else. Out!"

Fine fine, he was going. It's not like he was needed or anything anyways.

After school, the day took a wonderful turn as he was fired again. Apparently someone had been stealing from the register, and they blamed him, the registee. He didn't try do defend himself, knowing they wouldn't believe him anyway.

As soon as the sun went down, he returned to the library to meet with the others. Giles and Buffy had opted for good ol' violence to take down the beast, so he picked out a shield and a spear as Buffy went for a dagger and Giles selected a sword. He knew his place in the group. Buffy was the brawn, Giles was the brain, Willow was the magic, and, well, okay, also the brain, and Xander was the delay tactic. Whenever another teammate needed time to recover or pick up their knife or whatever, it was his duty to step in and let the bad guy pummel him until they were ready.

They headed out and searched the area all night, sticking mostly to parks since that was where the monster fed. By midnight there was still no sign of their quarry. Giles was getting a tad frustrated, in a British manner of course, which involved a lot of huffing and complaining whenever a Scooby did something stupid. Since Xander was the only stupid one in the group, this meant that every few minutes he received another "For goodness sakes, watch your back, will you Xander?" or "Please Xander, could you stop that ridiculous humming?"

Xander was about to make Giles guess the name of the song he was humming, when the bush behind them exploded into a green blur of claws and teeth.

Buffy nearly crowed in delight as she went at the demon, whacking it again and again with her knife, which looked pitifully small in comparison to the hulking beast. It didn't appear to like this turn of events, and knocked her down with one fiercely taloned arm.

That was his cue. Hefting his shield, he leaped in front of the fallen Slayer and jabbed the monster with his spear. It glared at him with five beady eyes, and then suddenly the ground was flying at him.

He lay there for a moment, waiting for the throbbing in his head to stop, but when it replied that no, it didn't want to stop, he lurched to his feet. He was just in time to hear a heart-stopping scream, much too high in pitch to be the demon. Whirling around he was treated to a nightmare come true as he watched Willow slide to the ground, the light fading from her eyes as the blood seeped through her yellow flowery sweater.


	2. Day 2

Author's notes: The chapters will probably get progressively longer. You're going to be feeling a lot of déjà vu.

**September 12, Wednesday**

The day started out like any other for Xander, which meant that he was awakened by a horrific shrieking that pretended to be an alarm clock. Moaning his agony, he lifted his head in time to see the bus sail past his window. He muttered a few choice curses and lurched to his feet, stumbling over to his closet.

His father offered to drive him to school, but he declined, remembering how badly that had gone the day before. He took his bike instead, pedaling quickly through the streets and dodging pedestrians.

This lasted for all of three minutes, until an idiotic decision to go left instead of right threw him wheel-first into the hood of a parked car.

Some time and many apologies later, he arrived at the school on foot, just in time to hear the bell for second period. Snorting in frustration, he headed to class.

In the doorway to the English class he paused and nearly cried out in shock, a sudden thought coming to him. Oh god, Willow was dead.

Er, wasn't she? No, she couldn't be, because she was over there in her seat, waving for him to sit down. Relieved, he did as he was told, and was treated to demands to explain his absence during first period.

Second period went by slower than slowly, as he chewed on the end of his pencil, struggling to find the answers for a test he didn't remember being scheduled. Wasn't the test yesterd- no, that had been a dream. Otherwise Willow would be dead, and she certainly wasn't, since she was sitting next to him gleefully jotting down answers. Sighing, he filled in some random bubbles, jotted down a few vague sentences in the essay section, proudly signed his name, and turned the paper in.

By the end of class they were graded and he was consoling himself that 32 wasn't such a bad score, considering he didn't even know the test was scheduled.

At lunch he didn't have much of an appetite, so he skipped getting a tray and just followed Willow. He was glad he did when he saw the stale and/or congealed food they were serving. He spent the lunch time propped up against his elbow, offering witty one-liners to Willow, who was bemoaning her pitiful A-.

"A minus! I mean, I almost never get a minus! Minus means inadequate. It means, 'Oh, you only barely got an A, it almost isn't an A, so we'll put this little dash next to it to remind you that if you had gotten any lower, it would have been a B+.'"

Strange, hadn't she said that already? No, suppose not, otherwise she wouldn't be saying it. Willow didn't repeat herself. He idly wondered if he should complain about his F--- to make her feel better, but luckily at that moment Cordelia walked over to do it for him.

"Congratulations Xander. I saw your test score for English. Wow, 32, that's like a new school record. For worst grade, that is. How do you do it, Harris? A rigorous schedule of Non-studying?"

Now why did that sound so familiar? He almost responded with the first quip that came to him, but stopped himself when he realized how bad it was. So he responded with the second quip that came to him, which must have been pretty bad since Cordelia left laughing. Willow tried not to look guilty and failed miserably. She offered to tutor him, but that just made him feel stupider. More stupid. Stupidest. Whatever.

She didn't mean to, not really. It's just that, her having an IQ of two people and him having the… but he was repeating himself.

Er, wasn't he?

Just then, Willow got up to put her tray away, and a mountain came out of nowhere and bumped into her. A mountain by the name of Varsity Quarterback Pete Conners, who now had the remains of Willow's meal smeared all over his pants. And didn't look too pleased about it.

Xander leaped in front of Willow as she tried to apologize in fast forward. "Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, Pete? You nearly ran Willow over."

If Pete hadn't looked too pleased before, now he looked just a smidgen pissed off. Okay, that was a dumb thing to do. Add one more mark on the Harris Hall of Idiocy.

Xander began to ponder whether begging for forgiveness could be considered manly, but he never got the chance to find out. Before Mr. 7ft could even swing, there was a short little blond girl between them, gripping his arm in a vise of a hand.

"Why don't you stay away from my friend, huh Pete? I doubt you'd be able to play football with a broken leg."

Pete backed away from the annoyed Ms. Summers, muttering something about hiding behind girls as he stalked away. Xander watched him go, wondering if there was a spell that could actually make the earth open up and swallow you when you wanted it to.

Having done her good deed for the day, Buffy escorted them to the library, happily sipping on her soda and letting Willow further Xander's humiliation by telling him how he shouldn't try to pick fights with people twice his size.

"I mean, that was Pete Conners! You don't just talk back to Pete Conners. You remember that time you refused to cover for him when he cheated, and he stuffed you in his locker? It took me four hours to pick the lock. I missed handing in a homework assignment."

Yep, attempt to do something heroic and get marked down as being an idiot. The story of his life.

Giles was there to meet them when they arrived, an expression of "There's a demon running loose and we have to kill it" on his face. He immediately launched into his mandatory British-guy explanation.

"Oh good, you're all here. I need to talk to you about a new demon that's shown up in town. Apparently it's been eating the local wildlife, and a few people have caught sight of it. It appears to be a dark green in color, with its eyes on stalks protruding from its head."

Okay, this couldn't just be coincidence. "So basically it's a green bug-eyed monster?"

"Xander, be serious. This demon is killing people."

Hey, that hadn't been the response Buffy had gotten! Wait a minute. "Um, haven't we done this before?"

Sip sip. "Done what before?"

"I mean, haven't we had this conversation before? Or not? I don't know. Willow, have you been dead recently?"

"Huh?"

"Xander, what are you babbling on about?"

"This. This conversation. The bug-eyed monster. We did this yesterday. Only, it wasn't yesterday. And Willow died. And I got fired." Pause. "I think I had a dream about this."

Giles did the rub-the-bridge-of-his-nose thing, which translated as 'Xander, I can't believe the levels of idiocy you can stoop to'. "Xander, it is true that sometimes Buffy's dreams are prophetic, but that is because she is the Slayer. We can't just go into a panic every time you have a nightmare."

Willow patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, he's right. I'm fine, see? No lack of vital signs whatsoever."

Yeah, sure, just ignore anything Xander says before he even has a chance to explain. Typical. No matter what he said, they would just chalk it up to him letting his emotions run away with him. Whoa, wait a sec, he was getting an idea. "Willow, I wanna make a bet with you."

"What?"

"I want to bet that I get fired this afternoon. If I do, you stay out of the battle tonight. If I don't, I'll… I'll study for the next test."

Giles gave him a 'you're pathetic' look. "Xander, we'll need all the help we can get tonight. Willow would be a viable asset to defeating the demon."

Had Giles ever noticed that every sentence he spoke to him started with the word "Xander"? Maybe it was a Brit thing. "But wouldn't she be backup magic, staying behind the lines? After all, Buffy's probably going to just kill the monster using violence." He gave Willow his best puppy eyes to take the sting out of the last two sentences. "Please, Willow? I'd feel a lot better if I knew you weren't there."

Sip "But there's a 30% chance he'll get fired anyway. He always does."

"Hey!"

Willow bit her lower lip, unsure of what to do. "Buffy's got a point. If you get fired it might just be for the normal reasons, not because of a dream. So… if you do, I'll stay out of the battle, but you gotta have a sleepover with me tonight and buy me Cookies and Cream ice cream."

Oh, it was worth ice cream to see Giles do a double take. "But, but Willow, this is important. We'll need your help with this demon."

She did her 'aren't I cute?' eyes at him, guaranteed to break through his defenses. "Wouldn't we all feel really bad in the morning if he turned out to be right? I mean, you'd have to buy flowers for my funeral and everything."

That did it. "Oh, all right. I suppose Buffy and I will do fine on our own."

Success! He did a little happy dance, pumping his fist in the air. Which was a bad idea, because apparently Buffy had set her drink down. He gazed sheepishly down at the soda-soaked blue hardback. "Um, oops."

"Xander! Oh, I can't believe it. How could you be so clumsy? That was a priceless first edition!"

"Um, would it make you feel better if I told you that happened in my dream?"

"Oh, just get out before you ruin something else. Out!"

That afternoon he got fired. He stopped at a convenience store and bought ice cream.

He arrived at Willow's house just as the sun was going down. "Hey, Red Witchy witch girl! I got your ice cream. And one standard Mel Brooks movie, per the requirements of a sleepover."

They watched the movies, chanting along with their favorite lines and adding in new ones. Around the middle of the third movie, they were bored enough to ignore the movie and have a conversation.

"But he's so cute! I especially like his eyes. He has the prettiest blue eyes."

"Wills, I can't believe you've got a crush on Matthew Simmerman! He's the quietest boy in town. I mean, he wears a pocket protector, for crying out loud!"

"So he's a geek. So what? I'm a geek. I wear floral sweaters in pastel colors, don't I?"

"Well, yes, but still, shouldn't you save your crushes for really attractive men?"

"Oh, like who? Who do you think is the most attractive man around?"

"Wil, I'm a guy. I don't think other guys are attractive."

"Oh come on. Hypothetically. Who's the cutest, hottest, most absolutely gorgeous guy you know?"

The first response that came to mind was 'Spike', and that shocked him so much that he forgot to say it out loud. He thought Spike was hot?

Well, hypothetically, of course. Spike had the awesome hair, and the pale flawless skin that chicks dig, and a wicked scar. And he had the whole 'I'm badass and I know it' attitude. Spike was cool enough to do crazy, stupid things, the kind that Xander might do, and have them considered cool just because of who he was. Lucky bastard.

"Come on. Don't try to ignore the question. Who's hot?"

Where was Spike, anyway? Xander hadn't seen him in at least a week. He was probably stalking about Sunnydale by night, killing demons and looking wicked in that black duster of his. He hadn't stopped by Giles' for blood in a while, so he must be getting it from another location.

There was no way he was going to tell Willow that Spike was hot. She would dog him until the end of time. But just as he was about to say "Antonio Banderas", the phone rang.

He grabbed the receiver before Willow could get up. "Night of the Movie Fest Headquarters. One Alexander the Great speaking."

"Xander?"

What was Giles doing calling them? And why did his voice sound so broken? "Giles? What's up? Did you guys get the baddie already?"

"Xander, it's… it's Buffy. She…"

Just like that, Xander suddenly knew what had happened. He had a very clear mental picture of long talons jutting from Buffy's chest, her mouth hanging open in shock and her life dripped away.

"Oh my God."


	3. Day 3

Author's notes: Don't worry, nobody actually dies in this story. Well, okay, they die, but they come back in the next chapter. Buffy's not really dead. Xander just thinks she is. Okay? So no worries. I'll shut up now.

**September 12, Wednesday**

A claxon** screamed in his ear, demanding that he wake up immediately or hit the snooze button. He slammed his hand on it, and lifted his heavy head off the pillow in time to see the bus sail past his window. Muttering a few choice curses, he lurched to his feet and stumbled over to the closet.**

As he was coming down the stairs, a sudden thought came to him, and he nearly cried out in shock. Oh god, Buffy was dead.

How could he have forgotten something so important? One of his best friends was dead. Dead. Not vampire undead or zombie semi-dead or even ghost incorporeal dead. Real dead. The kind of dead you read about in the papers.

He sat down on the step and struggled to hold back the tears, rocking himself to ease the pain in his chest. He sat like that for a long time, until finally he could no longer stand to be alone in his cold house, and trudged down the stairs.

He ignored his father's offer to drive him to school and just walked out the front door, not even bothering to get his books. He would have to walk to school, since his bike was totaled, but at the moment he didn't give a damn.

He marched along the darkened pre-dawn streets, his thoughts circling the morbid events of the day before. God, he could still remember Buffy's face when she died. She seemed so surprised, gazing down at the holes in her chest…

But how could he remember that? He had been at Willow's, hadn't he? He hadn't seen her die.

As he thought back, he realized that his memory of everything after the phone call was missing. How had he gotten back home? Had he seen Buffy's body, in a morgue or in the park where she died? He must have gone to the park, because otherwise he wouldn't have a mental picture of her lifeless body lying on soft mowed grass. Oh god, he wished he didn't have that memory.

Lost in his misery, he bumped into someone moving rather quickly and was nearly knocked down. Regaining his balance, he looked up to apologize, only to discover the person was a rather startled and grimacing Spike.

"Spike?"

The vampire tensed and jerked his head to look down at him, then visibly relaxed when he saw who it was. "Oy whelp, sorry, in rather a bit of a hurry. Got to get on." He made as if to run off, but paused as he got a clear look at Xander's face. "Bloody hell, you look terrible. You look as if something ate your dog."

Reminded of his loss, Xander gripped the collar of Spike's duster to keep from collapsing. "It's… it's Buffy… she…"

Spike frowned, his eyes gazing into Xander's as if he could read the thoughts there. "Lord, what happened to Summers?"

"She… she's dead."

Spike's skin went paler, if that was possible. "De… dead? Something killed Buffy?"

Xander nodded.

Spike opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated and looked up. "Erm, Xander, I'll talk to you later. Give my condolences to Giles and tell him I'll stop by." And with that he did run off.

Well, gee, even Spike is usually more tactful than that. Strange.

Some time and a couple of breaks to sit on benches and mourn later, Xander arrived at school just as the bell for lunch was ringing. Sighing, he went into the cafeteria and located Willow, who was standing in line. She looked absolutely miserable, and his heart went out to her. She must be taking Buffy's death as badly as he was. He went over to her and hugged her, praying that she wasn't mad at him. It was his fault, after all, that Buffy died. If he hadn't made Willow stay with him, it would have been her who died instead. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel guilty or relieved or both about that.

"Oh there you are Xander! I was so worried when you weren't at school. You missed the test. Do you have a sick note? If you do, the teacher will let you take it tomorrow."

Poor Willow. She was so upset about the tragedy, she was blocking it out. It must seem to her as if it were still yesterday. It sure felt like that to him.

"Um, why are you hugging me? Did something bad happen? Oh, the lunch lady just asked you if you want the tuna melt or the meatloaf."

"Doesn't matter."

Willow got him the meatloaf and sat down at a table, chattering away about her horrible grade on the test.

"A minus! I mean, I almost never get a minus. Minus means inadequate. It means-"

"-It means 'Oh, you only barely got an A, it's almost not an A, so we'll put this little dash next to it to remind you that if you had gotten any lower, it would have been a B+," he finished for her in monotone. Was she really reliving yesterday? She was even repeating the conversations. She never repeated herself.

"Xander, that was mean! I know how bad my grade was, you don't have to rub it in."

"I'm sorry Willow." He idly wondered if he should complain about his F--- to make her feel better, but luckily at that moment Cordelia walked over to do it for him.

"Gee Xander, you don't look sick. I bet you just faked it to miss the test. Couldn't handle how badly you would have flunked? You'd think since you hang around with Willow, some of her intelligence would rub off on you, but it only makes you look dumber."

Xander felt a little irked by that. Hello, one of my best friends died yesterday, do you care? "I don't give a flying fuck about a damn test." But, didn't he take the test?

Willow jumped in her seat, shocked by his language. Even Cordelia could think of nothing to say, and just walked back to her side of the cafeteria, leaving him with Willow giving him 'cute worried eyes'.

"Xander, did something happen? You almost never cuss."

Sighing, Xander didn't reply. Willow would accept reality eventually, and he would have to be there when she did to catch her.

Deciding that he wasn't hungry, he got up to put his tray away, and a mountain came out of nowhere and bumped into him. A mountain by the name of Varsity Quarterback Pete Conners, who now had Xander's lunch smeared all over his pants. And didn't look too pleased about it.

Yep, this day just kept getting worse. Xander couldn't bring himself to care about the angry Mr. 7ft in front of him, so he stood there and waited for his soon to be injuries.

But before his attacker could even swing, there was a short little blond girl standing between them, gripping his arm in a vise of a hand.

"Why don't you stay away from my friend, huh Pete? I doubt you'd be able to play football with a broken leg."

Pete backed away from the annoyed Ms. Summers, muttering something about hiding behind girls as he stalked away. Xander was too distracted by the fact that his friend was back from the dead to notice.

"Buffy! You're alive!" He was so happy, he felt like hugging her. So he did.

"Eyagh! Xander, what's wrong with you? Of course I'm alive." She peeled him off of her and backed up. "What would make you think otherwise?"

Willow came up behind him, frowning in confusion. "Um, are you okay Xander? Did you hit your head or something?"

Okay, Buffy was alive. Willow was alive. The test was today. Today? "What day is it?"

Buffy cocked her head in confusion. "Wednesday, duh."

"No, yesterday was Wednesday."

"No, today is Wednesday. Yesterday was Tuesday."

"Yeah, today is Wednesday, but yesterday was Wednesday too."

"Okay, that's it, you're going to see Giles." Buffy grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall to the library, occasionally taking sips of the drink that was in her other hand. Willow tailed behind them, visibly worried about Xander's well-being.

Giles was there to meet them when they arrived, an expression of "There's a demon running loose and we have to kill it" on his face. He immediately launched into his mandatory British-guy explanation.

"Oh good, you're all here. I need to talk to you about a new demon that's shown up in town. Apparently it's been-"

"Yeah yeah, you can tell us in a minute. First you gotta take a look at Xander. He's acting weird."

"He might have hit his head," Willow offered helpfully.

Giles did the quirk-his-eyebrow thing, which translated as 'So Xander is acting weird. What else is new?' "Acting weird in what sort of way?"

Buffy nudged him. "Go on, tell him what you told me."

Xander took a deep breath. "Okay, yesterday was Wednesday and today is also Wednesday, and I think the day before yesterday which was also today was Wednesday too. Yesterday which was also today, Buffy died, and the day before yesterday which was also today, Willow died, and they were both killed by the green bug-eyed monster."

Giles blinked. "By a what?"

"A green bug-eyed monster."

Buffy nodded her head in satisfaction. "See? He's making no sense."

Giles frowned, then stared at Xander strangely. "Do you mean a green demon? With… ehm, eyestalks?"

"Yes! The one you were gonna tell us about!"

"I was?"

"Yes. You tell us every Wednesday."

"I do?"

"Yes! And it's going to kill Buffy and/or Willow! And I got fired from the same job twice."

Giles looked over at Buffy. "You're right. No sense whatsoever."

Xander huffed in frustration. "Look. For some reason, I'm reliving this day over and over. This is the third time. I think. It might be the second, if the first was a dream. Or it might be the first, and the last two were both part of a complicated dream."

"Complicated is right."

"But the point is Buffy and/or Willow are/is going to die!"

Everyone blinked at him. "What?"

"We can't hunt the demon. It's going to kill one of us."

Willow tapped her nose thoughtfully. "So you're saying you already know what's going to happen?"

"Yes!"

"Prove it."

"You have a crush on Mathew Simmerman."

Willow turned beet red. "How…how… did I tell you that earlier? If I did, you weren't supposed to tell anyone!"

"You told me last night. Which is tonight. I mean, you were going to tell me tonight. At the sleepover."

"What sleepover?"

"The sleepover that you and I are going to have. After I make the bet with you."

"What bet?"

Xander snapped his fingers. "Hey, I've got a great idea! Buffy can come to the sleepover too. That way the demon can't kill her."

"What bet?"

"The bet I made with you that I was going to get fired."

Buffy snorted. "You made a bet with Xander that he was going to get fired? That's lame. You had a 30% chance of losing anyway."

"That's what you said yesterday. Today."

Giles decided that this was far too much and sat down. "Xander, please stop, you're giving me a headache."

Great, they didn't believe him. Yeah, sure, just assume anything that Xander says has no relevance whatsoever. Typical. No matter what he said, they would just chalk it up to him letting his emotions run away with him.

Willow raised her hand timidly as if she were in class. "Well, maybe we should skip hunting tonight altogether."

Wow, cool, he got to see Giles do a double-take again. "What? But Willow, this demon needs to be destroyed. It's killing people."

"We can kill it tomorrow. It's not like it's going anywhere. And besides…" she did her 'aren't I cute?' eyes at him, guaranteed to break through his defenses. "Wouldn't we all feel really bad in the morning if he turned out to be right? You'd have to buy flowers for the funeral and everything."

That did it. "Oh, all right, I suppose it is best if we hold off until we're sure whether Xander is correct or not. We can hunt it down tomorrow."

Success! Xander glanced down to check where Buffy's drink was, and was pleased to notice its absence from the table. So he did a little happy dance, pumping his fist in the air. Which was a bad idea, because Buffy was right behind him with her drink and he bumped into her, spilling it all over the blue hardback. "Um, oops."

"Xander! Oh, I don't believe it. How could you be so clumsy? That was a-"

"-A priceless first edition in Gedroshan. I know, I know. Um, it was meant to happen?"

"Just, just get out, before you ruin something else. Out!"

"Fine fine. But first: Willow, give me your test. I need to memorize it."

After school he went to work, reasoning that he should at least pick up his last paycheck. He accepted the firing graciously, but afterwards paused in the parking lot to try and figure out what he could have done to prevent being fired. As he was pondering, Mark, the grill guy, came up to him and patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

"Man, heard about the firing. That's harsh, dude. Hey, lemme buy you dinner somewhere, yeah?"

"No thanks. It was meant to happen anyway."

"Yeah, nasty turnover these types of jobs have. Well, good luck with everything."

He arrived at Willow's house an hour after the sun had gone down, toting a tub of Cookies and Cream just in case. "Hey there Wills, got some ice cream and the required Mel Brooks movie. Oh hey Buffy, you're here already."

They watched the movies, chanting along with their favorite lines and adding in new ones. Xander came up with a few that he hadn't said last time, and repeated the good ones he had said before. Willow basically repeated her previous lines, word for word, but Buffy came up with some rather clever pieces. Around the middle of the third movie, they were bored enough to ignore the film and have a conversation.

"Willow, do you really have a crush on Matthew Simmerman? I mean, he's such a geek. Erm, not that geeks are bad or anything," Buffy hastily added.

"Yeah, I do. He's got the cutest eyes. Hey, Xander, do you have a crush on anyone?"

Xander sighed. "I told you Wills, I don't like guys."

Buffy and Willow blinked. Willow got a little red in the face. "Um, Xander, I meant a crush on a girl."

Buffy laughed nervously, then her eyes brightened. "Hey, yeah, guys! Xander, what guy do you think is hot?"

"Buffy!"

"Silly, you can't say me, I'm not a guy. Come on, I'll say a girl I think is hot. Willow will too."

"But I don't think girls are hot!"

Xander snorted in frustration. Apparently there was no getting out of this. "Fine. Spike."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, trying to decide on a facial expression. "Spike? As in, blond, snarky, evil undead Spike?"

Xander gave her a full blast of sarcasm. "No, Spike Zucherman from down the street."

Buffy chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Weird. Ya know, I ran into him today."

"Spike Zucherman?"

"No, evil undead Spike, of course. Is there really a Spike Zucherman?"

"Sorta. Mr. Zucherman's dog is named Spike."

"Ah. Well, I did run into Spike, our Spike, today. He seemed really surprised to see me. Said how glad he was that I wasn't dead. Had an ax. Xander, do you think he knows about that Multiple Wednesday thing you were talking about?"

Xander smiled sheepishly. "Only from hearsay. This morning I told him you were dead. That was before I realized you weren't anymore. He had an ax?"

"Yeah, a big one. Kinda rusty. So, why do you think Spike is cute?"

Xander sighed. Figures they'd get back to that embarrassing subject. "I dunno. Maybe it's the coat. It's kinda cool. Or his hair. I like his hair." As he said it, his mind started gleefully listing all the traits Spike had that Xander liked. The hair, the coat, the skin, the walk, the talk, the eyes… yeah, Spike had those really intense eyes. Xander wondered if it was a vampire thing or a Spike thing. Angel had intense eyes, sorta, but they were usually just intensely glaring. Where as Spike's eyes always had a bit of amusement in them, even when he was angry or annoyed. Except there had been no amusement in them that morning, when he discovered that Buffy was "dead". What had Spike been doing that morning, anyways? He seemed like he was in a hurry…

"-ander? Earth to Xander. Come in, Space Case. You're drifting."

"What?"

Buffy grinned. "You were totally lost in thought about Spike."

Xander was about to retort to that, when the phone rang. He grabbed the receiver before either of the girls could get up. "Space Case Headquarters. Xanderman speaking."

There was a pause, then a stranger's voice came on the line. "Who am I speaking to, please?"

"Xander Harris. You've reached the Rosenberg residence. Do you want to talk to Willow?"

Another pause. "No, that's alright, you're on the list of contacts as well. I'm Police Captain Wallace, with the Sunnydale Police Department."

A cold chill went up his spine, and suddenly Xander knew what happened. "Um, who's dead?"

A pause again, this time from surprise. "Actually… er, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, sir, but I'm afraid Rupert Giles was killed this evening. The report says it was some sort of wild animal attack."

"Holy fuck."


	4. Day 4

Author's notes: Gee, I'm seeing a trend here, are you seeing a trend here? Anyone want to guess whose turn it is to die? To someone who asked, no, I didn't know Simmerman and Zucherman are spelled Zimmerman and Zuckerman. I thought I made them up.

**September 12, Wednesday**

Xander woke to something wailing in his ear. He instinctively slapped at it as his brain explained to him that it was the alarm clock. Lifting his head, he saw a blur of yellow sail past his window. Oh man, he missed the bus again. Muttering a few choice curses, he lurched to his feet and stumbled over to the closet.

As he was heading down the stairs, a sudden thought came to him, and he nearly cried out in shock. Oh god, Giles was…

No, Willow was…

No, Buffy was…

Um, who was dead, again?

Something was definitely not right. He sat down on the step and struggled to sort his thoughts and memories out. According to what his mind insisted were his memories, Buffy, Willow, and/or Giles were/was dead. Killed by a green bug-eyed monster. But also according to those memories, he had flunked the same test twice, gotten fired from the same job three times, and had a run in with a certain quarterback three times too many.

So what was real, and what was fantasy? Was it all just a complex dream, or did it really happen?

Well, if it was real, then he truly needed to find an answer. And if it was a dream, then it wouldn't matter if he treated it as real. So either way, he should behave as if it is real, and as if the day really was repeating itself.

Wait, was today Wednesday again? Rushing down the stairs, he ignored his father's startled outburst and grabbed the newspaper. Yep, Wednesday the 12th. "Dad, is this today's paper?"

"Well, of course it is. Are you dumb enough to not even know what day it is?"

Xander shook his head. "Lately I'm not sure." Picking up his bag, he headed out the door.

He decided to take his bike to school, since he needed to be there on time for one particular reason: he had memorized every answer on Willow's test the following day… and was guaranteed to get an A-. Which might be moan-worthy for almighty Willow, but was a sweet deal for him. So he took off on his two-wheel transportation, pedaling quickly through the streets.

Which lasted for all of three minutes, until a decision to take a right instead of left sent him plowing into Spike.

After gently picking himself up from the pavement, he limped over to Spike to check on the vampire's condition. "Geez Spike, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Still breathi- er, not breathing?"

Spike sat up from his sprawled position and winced, gingerly touching his arm. "Agh, what the bloody… Xander? You hit me!"

"Oh man Spike, I am so so sorry. You weren't supposed to be there. I couldn't go the other way. There was a car the other way. Did I hurt your arm?"

Being helped to his feet by one penitent teenager, Spike waved off his concern. "Nah, you didn't do it, Whelp. You didn't hurt me at all, actually. Just surprised the 'ell outa me. Where you off to in such a hurry?" Aha, he had been right about the intense eyes. And apparently they changed color depending on Spike's emotions. Right now they were vibrant blue.

"To school. I've got a test to get an A- on." Glancing at Spike's arm, Xander realized that it was bleeding from several nasty gashes. "Fuck, Spike, who did that? Or what, rather?"

Spike opened his mouth as if to answer, then hesitated and looked up. "Erm, Xander, I'll talk to you later. Right now I gotta press on." And with that, he ran off.

Huh, Spike was acting weird again. Oh well.

Xander reached the school with plenty of time, due mainly to the fact that his bike was not as damaged by hitting one British vampire than it had been by hitting one American Taurus.

Second period went by slower than slowly, since Xander had finished his test in the first ten minutes and now had to wait for it to be graded. The teacher only brought the tests back when everyone was finished, and as it landed on his desk he was thrilled to see an A-… what tha, that was an F! A zero, in fact. What had happened?

A startled whimper from next to him made him look over, to see Willow staring in shock at her paper. The blaring red mark on her test mimicked the one on his own, and the knowledge of what had happened slowly dawned on him. Fuck, the teacher thought Willow had helped him cheat.

And no wonder, considering he had practically copied her test word for word from memory. Gods and monsters, could he be so stupid?

Outside the door after class, Willow whirled on him and glared accusing 'you hurt me, Xander' eyes at him. "Xander, tell me the truth. Did you cheat off of me?"

Xander backed up, waving a hand in an attempt to console her. "No no, it's not like that. I… well, technically, yes, I sorta cheated. But not during the test!"

"Then when? I got a zero, Xander! A ZERO!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I'll make it up to you. I'll confess to Mrs. Stetsill, and tell her you had nothing to do with this. I'll tell her I cheated off of you without your knowing it."

The thought of regaining her A subdued Willow a little, but she was still looking at him with disappointment. "Xander, you've never cheated before. You always just took whatever grade you got, no matter how bad. Why'd you do it?"

"Well, you know, I thought, what with the opportunity and all… but I didn't mean to make it look like I cheated!"

"What opportunity? Xander, you had better start making sense real soon."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you everything. Just, come over here." Taking her arm gently, he pulled her to a side bench away from most of the traffic. Once he was sure nobody was listening in, he began. "Okay, here's how it is: I'm repeating this day over and over. Yesterday was today, the day before yesterday was today, and if I don't do something about it, tomorrow's probably gonna be today too."

Willow frowned. "I said start making sense!"

"I'm trying! I'm reliving the same day. I don't know how or why, but I am. And that's how I… cheated… on the test. I borrowed your test yesterday and memorized the correct answers."

"But I didn't have my test yester…you said yesterday was today? As in, the same things happened?"

"Yes!"

"So, for you, yesterday was Wednesday, and you took the test and then borrowed my paper, and today you took the test again, only now you knew the answers?"

"Yes!" Alright, we're making progress!

"Then things will happen today that you'll already know about? Things that haven't happened yet?"  
"Yes!"

"Prove it."

"Glad to." Taking her arm again, he led her in the direction of the library. "When we get to the library, Giles is going to start going on about a demon. A green, bug-eyed demon. He'll say it's killing the local wildlife and all. Then I'll say, 'So it's a green bug-eyed monster?' and he'll say 'Xander, be serious, this thing is killing people.' And then later, despite my best attempts to prevent it, a blue hardback book is probably going to get wet. Then this afternoon I'm gonna get fired for something I didn't do, and tonight somebody's going to die."

That made Willow screech to a halt. "Wait, what? Die? Who?"

"I don't know. I'll tell you about that later."

Giles was there to meet them when they arrived, an expression of "There's a demon running loose and we have to kill it" on his face. He immediately launched into his mandatory British-guy explanation.

"Oh good, you're here. I need to talk to you about a new demon that's shown up in town. Apparently it's been eating the local wildlife, and a few people have caught sight of it. It appears to be a dark green in color, with its eyes on stalks protruding from its head."

That was his cue. "So basically it's a green bug-eyed monster?"

"Xander, be serious. This thing is killing people."

By this time, Willow's jaw was on the floor, and she made no effort to pick it up. "How… how did you…"

Giles gave her a confused look. "How did I what?"

"Not you… how did…"

"She means me," Xander piped up. "I can see the future. Sorta. Everything that's gonna happen today. Because I've lived through it about… oh, say, three times."

Frankly, he was getting to enjoy their shocked expressions. Being looked at like he was insane sure beat being looked at like he was moronicity incarnate. Um, was moronicity a word? Moronality… Moronacy… Moronicness… Moronication…

Willow held up a slim hand firmly. "That's not important. Explain the death thing."

That got Giles' attention. "Death? What? Who died?"

"It depends. You, Buffy, or Willow. I don't know who it's going to be today. But I suggest the three of you skip the demon hunting tonight and do an altogether sleepover thing at Wil's house. For safety in numbers, you know. And myself too, I guess, 'cause I might be next on the list."

Giles did the rub-the-bridge-of-his-nose thing, which translated as 'Even at the best of times I find understanding Xander to be difficult.' "Xander, I'm afraid you've confused me. Explain it again?"

Xander shook his head. "It won't do any good. Can you just trust me on this? For once?" That put a slight pain in his chest, but he deliberately ignored it.

Giles looked as if he was about to argue, but Willow made the decision for him and held up her hand again. Giving him a good shot of 'Aren't I cute?' eyes, she smiled "We should probably do as he says. After all, won't we feel really bad if he turns out to be right, and somebody dies? The rest of us will have to buy flowers for the funeral."

That did it. Sighing deeply, which translated as 'The things I do for you people', Giles nodded his head.

Success! Now all he had to do was leave before he could ruin the book. Just as he turned and marched towards the door, it opened, and a nonchalant Buffy barreled right into him.

Drink everywhere. Especially on the book. Frustrated out of his mind, Xander nearly yelled at Buffy for forcing fate, but the miserable look on her face stopped him. She was going to take the blame! She couldn't do that; it was his fault. It was always his fault. Spinning around, he blurted out, "Oh man Giles, I'm so sorry. I should have been looking where I was going."

While Buffy did the "stunned-speechless" thing, Giles berated him for his stupidity. He pretended to listen penitently, nodding at the appropriate moments, and reciting the litany in his head as Giles said it. He knew there was no way he could get Giles to forgive him and still keep his dignity intact, so he didn't bother. He let Giles shoo him out with little fuss, but was surprised when Buffy made as if to come with him.

Giles was surprised too. "Buffy, could you stay? I need to fill you in on current…happenings."

Glancing around nervously, Buffy nodded. "Yeah, um Giles, I'll be back in a minute. I just need to … to use the bathroom. Yeah." That appeared to appease her Watcher, so she turned and, grabbing Xander's arm, hauled him out the door.

Unsure of these turn of events, Xander resisted a little. "Hey, easy, what'd I do?"

Once the door was closed, Buffy let go. "I just wanted to say thanks."

Huh? "Thanks for what?"

The Slayer rolled her eyes. "For covering for me. With the drink. That was really nice of you, Xan."

Oh, that. "Nah, it was my fault in the first place."

Buffy chewed her lip. "Well, it was sorta both our faults, but you took all the blame. Thanks. I'll remember that." Done with her speech, she turned and headed briskly for the bathroom.

Xander chuckled bitterly to no one. "Not if I don't fix this, you won't."

A crash from down a nearby hall caught his attention, and Xander went to investigate. Just as he turned the corner, a mountain came out of nowhere and bumped into him. A mountain by the name of Varsity Quarterback Pete Conners, who currently had Mark the Grill Guy pinned up against a locker, and didn't look to pleased with Xander's interruption.

Where's the Slayer when you need her? In the girls' bathroom. The age old question has been answered.

As luck would have it, the locker Xander got stuffed into turned out to be Mark's, who was only too happy to help him out of it. "Man, I gotta thank you. If you hadn't shown up just then, I'd be a Mark-colored smear on the floor."

Xander brushed himself off rather thoroughly. Did no one ever dust the inside of lockers? "Never fear, Xander the Distraction Man is here. Do I have any spiderwebs in my hair?"

"Nah, just lint. Hey, I got a lab exam next period. You wanna skip outa here and get some lunch? My treat."

Xander grinned ruefully. "Sorry, my best friend's a brain. She'd kill me. Or at least look at me with disappointed sad eyes. Those things are lethal, you know." I should know, he thought. I got skewered by them just ten minutes ago.

"Yeah, so I've heard. Well, see ya round, dude."

That afternoon Xander used his last paycheck to buy ice cream and a bunch of other snacks. There were going to be a heck of a lot of people at the sleepover, after all.

Giles affected to be annoyed at having to spend the night with a crowd of teenagers, but he still pulled in some clever lines during the MST-ing fest. Xander just repeated his better lines and managed to say some of Willow and Buffy's lines at the exact same time as them, which always earned him shocked looks and giggles. By the third movie they were bored enough to ignore the film and have a conversation.

"Willow, do you really have a crush on Matthew Simmerman? I mean, he's such a geek. Erm, not that geeks are bad or anything," Buffy hastily added.

"Yeah, I do. He's got the cutest eyes. Hey, Xander, do you have a crush on anyone?"

"Oh no," Xander hastily replied, holding up his hands in defense. "You're not catching me with that again."

That earned him confused looks. "Um, I mean, I'm very happy being single right now, thank you, and have no desire to think about guys whatsoever." Pause. "Damnit."

Buffy quirked an eyebrow. "Guys? Xander, there something you want to tell us?"

As he tried to figure some way out of this, Willow suddenly piped up. "Hey, yeah, guys! Xander, Giles, what guys do you think are cute?"

Giles turned very red and began coughing. Xander grinned. Aha, so they were dragging the G-man into this as well. At least he wasn't alone under the scrutiny. "Yeah, Giles, what guy do you think is cute?"

Buffy tutted. "You have to say one too, Xander. Don't try to wiggle out of it. Come on, Wil and I'll say what girls we think are cute."

"But I don't like girls!"

Xander nodded. "Fine, Spike. Giles' turn."

Buffy frowned. "Spike? As in evil, undead Spike?"

"Yes, evil undead Spike, now stop pestering me and start pestering G-man."

Their resident librarian looked for all purposes very much like a mouse cornered by three cats. "I… hardly see the point to this game. I refuse to play; it's much too ridiculous."

Xander snickered. "Oh come on, Giles, you have to say one, or we're going to bother you about it for weeks. You know we will."

Willow and Buffy looked fully ready to back him up on that. Giles swallowed nervously. "You must understand that this is completely a hypothetical liking. I only admire the person's attractiveness; I hold no… other feelings towards them whatsoever."

Xander snorted. "Well duh. As if I'm crushing on the chipped wonder." Who had rather firm ab muscles, come to think of it. Xander had noticed them that morning, when he had run into Spike. The vampire's shirt had ridden up when he hit the pavement, and he hadn't bothered to adjust it, so Xander had gotten a good look at his pale but lean stomach. Waitaminute, he was having Spike thoughts! Bad Spike thoughts, no! Out of the brain, out!

"Well, all right," The older man relented. "But I just know you're all going to tease me about this." He hesitated for a moment, trying to delay the inevitable, then sighed. "Ethan."

"The bad Ethan? With the costume shop with the evil costumes, that Ethan?" Shocked looks all around.

"Well, of course as I said this is a _hypothetical_ liking," Giles hastily explained.

"What's hypothetical about a liking?" Willow wondered aloud, as Buffy suddenly needed some air and Xander cracked up.

"Hey," Buffy said, her head stuck out the window. "You know what's really ironic? He's outside right now."

Giles, who had been standing up, toppled over. Xander choked on a chuckle and it turned into a hiccup. Willow just looked confused. "Who's outside?" she asked in a small voice.

Buffy pulled her head back in and closed the window. "Spike, duh. Who'd you think I was talking about?"

Xander leapt to his feet. "Spike's outside? Like, right now?"

Nodding absently, Buffy checked the time on her watch. "Yeah, just outside on the sidewalk. Has an axe. He's bleeding all over the concrete." She paused, features oddly neutral as she thought about what she had just said.

Xander didn't notice this, for he had bolted down the stairs at the word 'bleeding'. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck, he thought, why didn't I remember about Spike? He's at risk too, he must've had a run in with the demon, and now he's bleeding, we need to get some fresh blood into him before he dehydrates, but Willow doesn't have any blood, where are we going to get some blood…I hope the Rosenbergs have a first aid kit…

All this ran through his head at about the same speed as he ran through the house. He reached the front door around 'kit', and threw it open, the words 'come in' on his lips.

And Spike wasn't there anymore.

Xander stumbled out onto the front lawn, his brain trying to explain in careful sentences just what he was seeing. Spike wasn't there anymore, but a large amount of blood stained the sidewalk, and lying in it was an axe. A very rusted axe.

And dust.

No Spike, just dust.

"Well fuck."


End file.
